May 16, 2008

1. Rochester Rattlers
There's a bitter taste in the Rattlers' mouth, and there should be. Rochester cruised to a 9-3 regular season and was hosting the MLL playoffs at Paetec Park. Despite ranking near the top of the league in all of the major offensive categories, the Rattlers couldn't even get out of the semifinals, falling by one goal to Los Angeles.

League MVP John Grant Jr., who led the MLL last year with 71 points, will anchor the offense.

"We escaped a few games this year on sheer talent. That didn't happen tonight," he told Lacrosse Magazine Online after that game. "We didn't win the championship, so this year means nothing to me."

He'll get plenty of help up front from fellow Canadian Jeff Zywicki. Second only to the Long Island Lizards in faceoff percentage, Rochester will look for continued success there from midfielder Alex Smith.

Returning goalie Mike Levin played in all 12 of the Rattlers' games in 2007. The team also brought back goalie Greg Havalchak this year by taking him eighth overall in the supplemental draft in December.

The Rattlers finish with four of the final six at home, although that doesn't necessarily mean much. Still, they're the favorite to win the Eastern Conference.

--J. Jude Hazard

Rival Coach's Take: They are a little suspect still in the goal. We all know that winning faceoffs and stopping the ball from going in the net are two key components in this league.

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2. The Barrage
Adversity is like an old friend for the two-time defending MLL champions, who have won three titles in four years despite being one of the league's worst draws in Philadelphia. With five "home" games in the MLL's hottest potential expansion markets, this traveling road show could be the league's best draw outside of Denver.

"I've heard from guys like [2007 MLL championship game MVP] Matt Striebel who say this is going to be great," said MLL commissioner David Gross, "that it'll be nice to play in front of fans."

Defenseman Kyle Sweeney took it one step further.

"It's going to be the same team," he said, "and we're going to win again."

A healthy Ryan Boyle, who has battled shoulder injuries the last two seasons, could be the catalyst. But with its entire starting defense All-Star goalie Brian Dougherty returning intact, the Barrage has gotten used to winning ugly if it must.

"We'd eat horrible pizza after games and walk past a youth hockey game to take showers in the back part of a public bathroom," defenseman Brian Spallina said of playing previously in Downingtown, Pa. "For us, it's just another thing to laugh about."

--Matt DaSilva

Rival Coach's Take: Striebel has become the best offensive middie in the league, and Doc is still the best goalie. They only real weakness I see is depth. If guys like Boyle, Striebel or Doc go down, who is there to replace them?

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3. Boston Cannons The Boston Cannons will look to establish chemistry and try to get a few bounces to go their way to improve on last year's record, according to coach Bill Daye.

The Cannons were one of three teams in the Eastern Conference last year to finish one game below .500. Daye said he will look for a solid year from the team's top attackmen, Mikey Powell and John Christmas, as the pair continues to work together on the field.

"Teams that have played together for a longer period of time definitely develop more of a team chemistry," Daye said. "Just like any sport, it takes some time to sort of get used to one another."

Daye said that the team will look to Ryan Curtis to help improve the defense, and that the goalie position will be up for grabs in camp this year.

"We're very excited coming into camp with what we have returning on both ends of the field," he said last month. "Defensively I think we're in a lot better situation coming into the season than we were last year."

--J. Jude Hazard

Rival Coach's Take: You have an all-star player with Mikey Powell, who can hurt you in so many ways with goals and assists. They're rock solid all the way through.

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4. Washington Bayhawks
Defense comes first for new Bayhawks coach Jarred Testa.

"If you can't buckle down and play defense, there's no chance of you winning a championship," he said. "Goals and offense will take care of itself."

Testa would know, since he helped lead the then-Baltimore Bayhawks to an MLL championship in 2002 as a player.

A key change Testa plans to introduce this year is installing Matt Ward as a full-time attackman. In the past, Ward bounced between midfield and attack.

"He's definitely most effective at the attack position," Testa said. "That's going to give Matt a breath of fresh air, and it will also relieve Conor Gill of some of the carrying of the ball and doing those little things."

The point of good defense is to force low percentage shots as teams scramble to get off an attempt before the shot clock expires, according to Testa.

"If you have numbers in this league with the talent that's there offensively, you're going to score goals," he said. "I look on our emphasis on the defensive end of the field as an offensive-minded player."

--J. Jude Hazard

Rival Coach's Take: Conor Gill is still a great feeder, but he had a down year last year because the ball didn't move through him as much as it needed to. Losing Mark Frye to retirement hurts. Their close D is solid, but their midfield defense needs to get better.

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5. Long Island Lizards
Behind Peter Vlahakis (165 of 277) and Joe Mascaretti (47 of 89), the Lizards led the league in faceoff percentage last year (57.8), but the team needs to convert that into goals, according to coach Jim Mulé.

"Offensively, we struggled [last year]," Mulé said. "We didn't shoot the ball well at times and that's one area we definitely need to improve."

A key addition midway through the season was rookie Frank Resetarits, who joined the team after leading Albany to within one goal of the NCAA semifinals last year.

"We're really excited about Frank," Mulé said. "A guy that can finish inside has always done well in this league."

Mulé said he is counting on Resetarits to finish on goals, and he also is counting on goalie Nick Murtha to have another good year between the pipes.

"If everybody just plays their role and you put guys in the right spots, that's the best you can do from a coaching standpoint," he added. "You miss an opportunity -- the other teams are so good and they capitalize and you're in a hole."

--J. Jude Hazard

Rival Coach's Take: They have very good defensive personnel and a solid goalie in Nick Murtha. Their personnel is strong enough for them to win every game.

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6. New Jersey Pride
After trading away several of their best players, New Jersey will have five of the top 12 selections in the 2008 draft. Coach Peter Jacobs said he plans help those new players get on the field and work together.

"I'm hoping that people pushing each other and vying for spots will actually help us in the long run," Jacobs said. "It's just trying to get the guys in there as soon as possible."

The team won just 41 percent of faceoffs last year, which Jacobs said must improve.

"Facing off and goaltending are two things that, at the end of the day, really dominate the bottom line," he said. "Hopefully we learned from last year's experiences."

New Jersey has transition off the field. Trey Reeder, GM for the last three years, stepped down last month. Assistant GM Steve Ferretti was named his interim replacement.

"I think what's going to be big for us is how we get through maybe the first couple games," midfielder Conor Ford said. "We're going to get a lot of talent with the collegiate draft."

--J. Jude Hazard

Rival Coach's Take: They're going to get five of the best 12 kids out of college to a team that's already a pretty good team. They need to fill holes at the midfield.